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Burden of fungal disease in Sweden and Benin presented at ECCMID as GAFFI annual report released

Burden of fungal disease in Sweden and Benin presented at ECCMID as GAFFI annual report released

April 23 2018

In Sweden and Benin, the contrast between fungal disease burden is stark, as displayed in two posters at the European Conference of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID). Sweden is one of the world’s wealthiest countries with a GDP of $51,600 per person (10 million population), whereas Benin is one of the poorest with a GDP of $790 (11 million population). In Benin, an estimated 713,000 school- age children have tinea capitis according to Yolande Sissinto and colleagues, whereas in Sweden tinea capitis is almost absent, although superficial fungal infections were estimated to be common (1,429,000) (Volkan Özenci and colleagues). Asthma rates are also very different among adults: 3.77% in Benin and 8% in Sweden, translating into much higher number of fungal asthma cases in Sweden. Benin has an estimated 80,000 patients with HIV infection compared to the 7000 in Sweden. So while Pneumocystis pneumonia numbers were similar with 315 in Benin, 217 in Sweden, all were in AIDS patients in Benin, whereas only 16 (5%) were in AIDS patients in Sweden.

Sweden

Benin

GDP

$51,600

$790

Population

10 million

11 million

Tinea capitis cases in schoolchildren

Almost absent

713,000

Asthma prevalence in adults

~8%

~4%

HIV cases

7,000

80,000

Pneumocystis pneumonia cases

217

(5% of which in AIDS patients)

315

(100% of which in AIDS patients)

These new estimates bring to 75 the number of countries with fungal disease burden estimates conducted by the LIFE Worldwide programme over the last 5 years: